OBAMA SPEECHWRITER’S IDEA OF COMEDY

Catalyst January/February Issue 2011

Late last year, Jon Lovett, a White House speechwriter, won the “Funniest Celebrity” competition in Washington, D.C. In a quip he made about the TSA’s pat downs, he said, “it’s giving a way for, you know, defrocked priests to get their lives back together, giving back to the community, lend a…Well, not lend a hand, but you know.”

Had this been some flunky entertainer appearing in an urban comedy club, no one would blink an eye. But it is at least an interesting window into the mind of one of the speechwriters for the president of the United States: Lovett could have chosen a million examples to poke fun at the TSA, so it is revealing that what he settled for was a former priest guilty of sexual molestation.

This is an administration that has bent over backwards not to offend Muslims. Even in a comedic forum, it would never countenance a joke of this sort that targeted an imam. But for Catholic priests, the White House obviously has a different set of standards.

At the very least, Lovett should never be given an assignment ever again that touches on matters Catholic. And quite frankly, a statement by President Obama was entirely warranted.